Lockdown effect on babies

[Wingingthis]

My baby was born in April and apart from a handful of times in the summer/early autumn she’s never met any of my wider family or friends. She has a 3yo sister and sees my mum & dad (who we’ve bubbled with).
It’s starting to look very highly likely that we’ll be living this way until her first birthday, are there any child development experts that can reassure me she won’t be effected by having little to no social interaction with people other than me, DH, her sister & grandparents? I realise we’re lucky in the sense she had a sister and we’ve been able to bubble up.
Thank you!

I’m not a child dev expert but I am also worried about this with my 5month old. Thankfully up until end of October we were meeting up with our NCT friends and going to baby groups a few times a week as well as seeing family and friends (tier 1 area until November) we have a bubble with parents which is great but it’s the interaction with other babies I worry about, we meet other mum friends for walks but then the babies are just in their prams not really interacting. I do try and take her into coffee shops when I’m getting a takeaway drink etc. so she is hearing other voices and sounds and it does look like some baby groups will be able to continue in tier 4 which is something. I do feel like new mums and babies have been forgotten until recently with the introduction of the bubble. So any reassurance that this won’t have long term impacts will be great.

I have an 8 month old and just talking about this with a friend who also has a baby. I also have two other children so she is lucky she has other children to interact with but I cant help but feel really sad that her life has been so small. She has barely experienced anything. I really hope baby groups are allowed to continue in tier 4

My DS was born in March, has no siblings (one on the way though) and I’m terrified of what this has done to him.

I’ve tried my best, made it to a few sensory sessions which managed to go ahead and arranged a few outdoor play dates over summer but far from normal and I worry a lot!

My DS (now 3) didnt go to playgroups etc until around 1. He is fine.

she’s never met any of my wider family or friends.

I never really had wider family or friends when mine were babies. It didn't harm their development in any way. They went to school nursery at 3. One is now 19 and working FT and the other is 17, dropped of school (S6) in October but is going to Uni in September.

I’ve worried about this too but did some reading which said up to age 2 babies don’t really play together, just alongside. And they get all the socialising they need from parents. There are some advantages in things like copying skills from other children (if they see them crawling, eating etc they may want to try), but social development shouldn’t be affected. Which I found reassuring.

I had my son in January. He never saw other babies until he started nursery in October and didn't spend much time with other people either, due to lockdown. I was worried about this too but he's a super sociable little guy & it just seems to be in his nature. I wouldn't worry too much :)

There will be lots of people who tell you groups are for mum but I have to admit I'm also worried about my DS. He is my first a and was born last December and so the vast majority of his life has been with restrictions in place.

He has had a few 'play dates' with a friends child who is the same age but since this child started nursery these are now increasingly less common.

Unfortunately due to covid job difficulties I'm not going back to work so he won't be attending nursery. Addes to this all the local groups here are still closed and have been since March so he now has no interaction with other children.

Im sure he will be fine but it's very isolating and it's hard not to worry and consider at what point he actually needs to play alongside others. I'm honestly wondering what I'll do with him for the next few months.

I'm not an expert but a layperson - my guess is that the loss of social contact, baby groups etc may adversely impact mums and lead to increased isolation, anxiety, depression and similar, but that their loss won't directly impact babies very much at all. But obviously having a mum battling with her MH will impact a baby/family, so you should do whatever you can to take care of yourself.

A friend whose brother is a paediatrician in Canada said that apparently babies/toddlers are developing a much better understanding of how eyes communicate feelings and emotions because they're not able to see mouths so often. I thought that was quite interesting. Babies (and children) are very resilient and adaptable. DS is 16 months so has spent most of his life under lockdown with me and DH; it doesn't seem to have done him in harm so far and he has no problems adjusting to when we (occasionally) have been able to see family and friends in person. He bloody loves a FaceTime call too.

I’ve worried about this too but did some reading which said up to age 2 babies don’t really play together, just alongside

This is such a persistent MN myth 'socialization doesn't matter under 2 (I've also seen people say 3) because they parallel play rather than play together'. Parallel play is a developmental stage, you can't just skip it and expect them to go straight to playing nicely together. It's like saying that it doesn't matter if a baby wasn't allowed to move for their first year because they don't walk until 1 anyway.

Parallel play is a developmental stage, you can't just skip it and expect them to go straight to playing nicely together. It's like saying that it doesn't matter if a baby wasn't allowed to move for their first year because they don't walk until 1 anyway.

This is my worry. I absolutely know that children need to interact alongside their peers in order to develop the skills needed to be able to then interact with them.

My son doesn't see any children to play alongside so he's not developing these skills. Even when we go to the park it's normally empty or the children there are so much older. I worry about him missing this window for developing skills in parallel play as I know it will impact his social skills going forward.

I had a baby who turned one last autumn, so six months at the start of lockdown. She has a sister but had tremendous separation anxiety and fear of other adults when we were allowed to see other people in summer and early autumn. We worked hard to get her used to some family members which took absolutely months (from her becoming hysterical if they came in the room even if they didn't look at her or go near her) and now it's all gone again. She turned one too early to be allowed a bubble so we can just face time and hope for the best.
Fortunately for you, you have a bubble with your parents so make the most of it, it's twice as many faces as my baby had and I really hope it makes a significant difference for you. Hopefully we are all out of this mess sooner rather than later and some normal stuff can resume. X

My little lady is 10 months and im also worried, if anyone has come round she screams, this wasn't the case when we were allowed to see people.
She's a very happy smiley baby from a distance and with us but gets scared when she sees someone new in the house, even grandparents.
It's getting slightly better now that we have bubbles and can see people more often, but that's only every 2/3 weeks when we'd probably get contact more often in normal circumstances.

I don't go to baby classes either for my own reasons. I'm nervous about putting her into nursery, she'll be going just after 1 year old so not even much time to socialise properly with all the restrictions.

Ask her in 15 years if she suffered during lockdown.

Children don't engage in turn taking play until they are 3-4 years old and then have to be encouraged to do so. Play will happen even if there are no other children present because it's a reaction to the big coloured object and interaction from the person with them.

Almost all babies up to the age of about 18 months and beyond will suffer separation anxiety from their primary carer. It's a biological hard-wiring from the primitive brain. It would be more unusual for them not to.

It is definitely the case that babies play alongside babies not with them for quite a long time. Can't remember with my first but it was past 1 if not much later. So social interaction with other babies wouldn't even cross my mind as an issue.

I do think there are some temporary effects tho- we had my sibling over on Christmas Day and our little lockdown baby was genuinely giving them the evil eye all day. She is not happy to be held by anyone apart from me and DH unlike our first baby who was comfortable with a few other family members too. I'm sure that will resolve when she actually has the chance to be held by others though

They will all be fine. Honestly, there is so much rubbish circulating that just worrying parents needlessly.

My third was born in August. Her life has been no different to that of her older siblings. I didn't do baby groups, we don't have a big family or friends.

Guess what - my 18 year old has never shown any ill effects from just being with me and his dad for the first 18 months of his life before I started going to the odd playgroup with him - which was more for me than him anyway.

Lost of babies dislike strange faces, even if they have been in nursery 8 hours a day from 12 weeks old.

Please don't worry.

@TheSilentStars is right.

Tbh I don't think lockdowns will really have an impact on babies. Mum is pretty much their world and even a small flat is a big enough world for a baby to explore. When you go to baby groups they don't really interact with other babies. It's more just singing and watching bubbles.

I think the lockdown will have a massive effect on toddlers though. From about 12-18 months kids would normally start taking in the world more, learning to play with others and experiencing new things. I really think it's going to have a massive impact on toddlers to have such limited experiences and social interactions.

I don't think you need to worry either although I'm not an expert. My DD is 5 and we never went to baby groups or socialised with other children when she was a baby. I couldn't drive and we also didn't know anyone with children to hang out with at that time. She is absolutely fine and very sociable now, but when she was younger she would scream if I left the room or even if we saw grandparents! She just wanted me all the time. Now though when I drop her at school she doesn't say bye sometimes, because she's so excited to see her friends she will just run off with them and not give me a backward glance

I also have a DS who was born in April and he has met grandparents but due to lockdown and now being in tier 4 we haven't seen people much this year. He seems fine to me as well, he gets so excited when he sees grandparents on facetime but is equally happy to just spend all day with me. I think at this age they are more concerned with food and learning to move, rather than seeing other people. Plus you have an older DC, so your baby will be looking at her and learning all the time. It has been crap spending all maternity leave in some kind of lockdown this year so I feel your pain. Hopefully next year will feel a bit more normal eventually.

Echoing @mynameiscalypso’s experience, and also an interesting conversation I’ve had with various health visitors/GP/other mums now - babies can DEFINITELY still recognise and respond to facial expressions even with masks.

OP, you’re already one step ahead by the very fact that your baby has an elder sibling and also grandparents who are present and involved, so by definition is interacting with other children and adults. We have DD4y and DD14m and in spite of the fact that elder DD went to every baby group going, had playdates all the time and didn’t live under lockdown until past 3.5, younger DD is by far the more sociable and confident, has had absolutely no negative effect on her social development from lockdown.

Even without elder siblings, the bulk of any baby’s interaction and how they learn social cues etc will come from their parents even outwith lockdown. As long as you are making an effort, which from the fact you’ve made this post at all means you must be as you are aware and thinking about it, your baby will be absolutely fine.

(And youngest DD also gets extremely excited when she hears the FaceTime dial tone!)

I'm of worried about my 5 month old at all. My 2 year old on the other ha d has spent most of his second year relatively isolated, and his speech is now very delayed. He understands every single word we say but rarely speaks, and SLT say lockdown has had an effect and they are now starting to see this with toddlers.

*not

SLT say lockdown has had an effect and they are now starting to see this with toddlers.

That's whats worrying me as we are now entering the toddler years and still basically under lockdown.

It's hardly surprising it's having an impact as it's not just the socialising but all the other small bits. Things like going to the library, eating out, going to the dentist, visiting new places etc all occurrences which would normally be part of a toddlers daily life.

Absolutely. We are a busy household, I have an 11 yr old as well as the babies and there is plenty of talking, reading and interaction.we are having to try not to anticipate his needs and let him vocalise, but it's all the other interactions he's missing.